"I was reading this cool book - it was about a bunch of children who were thrown together and forced to play these games to the death."

"Why?"

"No quest"I was reading this cool book - it was about a bunch of children who were thrown together and forced to play these games to the death."

"Why?"

"No questions! So anyway, this one girl volunteered for it and was desperate not to participate-"

"Wait, why did she volunteer if she didn't want to participate?"

"What did I just say? Pay attention. Now, she met this boy who loved her and she said she loved him but really she didn't and he was so shocked in the end when he found out she was faking-"

"Whoa, hold on a minute. What a jerk! Why would she trick him into thinking that if it wasn't true?"

"THERE WAS A REASON! PLOT DETAILS WILL NOT BE DISCUSSED!!!"

This is a bit how reading The Maze Runner was like. You were told bits and pieces, but when asked a why or how, Thomas was told, Shut up! For some reason we will not tell you even though you are smarter than everyone else here and could possibly help us figure this maze out so we can stop being tormented by shucking grievers!

I seriously fail to see how not clueing the reading in on obviously important details for absolutely no reason is helping the novel. All it did was make me think everyone in the Glade is an idiot and doesn't actually want to get out.

Because, guess what? Everyone in the Glade is an idiot.

No one figures out the simplest things without it being explained or "remembered." Dashner treats Thomas like a god because he's so smart he can figure the Glade out, but really he just conveniently remembers everything he needs to at exactly the right time. Also, everything is predictable.

They also make up stupid words like shuck, shuck-face, klunk, and the like. "Why do you say klunk?""Because that's the noise poop makes when it falls in."Okay... Well when I eat chips it makes a crunching noise, but I don't call eating chips crunching, do I? And shuck? Really? If you want to use swear words, make your book rated R or use normal substitute works like freaking. Why? JUST FREAKING DO IT. (There, now I'm not explaining important review points.)

Also, if someone can explain to me the point of Teresa...

I don't know why she was there, I don't know why they can speak telepathically, and I don't know how [spoiler]she triggered the ending. Oh sorry, I mean The Ending.[/spoiler]

What's with these books all having to capitalize stupid words? I'm surprised klunk and shuck weren't proper nouns. Instead of having grievers, the changing, and the ending - which would have made all those things sound cool - we have Grievers, the Changing, and the Ending. Why? It seems it's only purpose is so test the readers restraint, especially if they got this book from the library. (Oh, you want me to explain that? Yes I don't mind explaining something important because it serves me no purpose for you not to know. Let's put it this way: if I hadn't paid $10 for this book, it would have pen markings practicing my editing skills on all these stupid capitalizations and replacement words.)

If you have this grand theory about the Glade and the reasons behind it, throw them out the window. This is not a unique novel. The ending will not shock you. There are no epic reveals, so don't expect any. Instead, treat this like a light, fluffy read that will pass the time but not really quench your thirst for a good mystery or adventure. I actually enjoyed it myself, but there was such horrible dialogue, plot, and characters that I can't bear to give it a 3 star rating. It's one thing to like a good, it's another to know it's no good. And this, my friends, is no good. ...more